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S. H..HARRINGTON.

TOY.

No. 588,988. Patented Aug. 31,1897.

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S. H. HARRINGTON.

TOY. '7

"No. 588,988. I Patented Aug. 31,1897.

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 588,988, dated August31, 1 89 7. Application filed. May 25, 1 895. Serial No. 550,611. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it mar concern: 7

Be it known that L'SAMUEL 1-1. HARRING- TON, a citizen of theUnited'States, residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, State ofPennsylvania, have invented a certain new and Improved Toy, of which thefollowing specification is a true and exact description, reference beinghad to the accompanyingdrawings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to the construction of a toy, and has foritsobje'ctto provide a toy in which movable figures are made to move atthe same time in such a way asto present the appearance of a racebetween them, and preferably under conditions affecting their relativerates of speed, which are constantly changing.

The nature of my invention will be best understood as described inconnection with the s a whole; Fig. 2, a plan view of the same, omittingthe movable figures; Fig. 3, a cross-section on the line 00 0c of Fig.4. with the center broken away; Fig. 4, a cross-section on the line y yof Fig. 2; Fig. 5, a cross-section on the line z z of Fig. 2; Figs. 6,7, and 8, side views of the figures such as are adapted for use inconnection with my toy; Fig. 9, a view illustrating a modification ofconstruction, and Fig. 10 a plan view of a horseshoe-magnet adapted foruse in connection with my 'toy in the way to be hereinafter described.

A indicates the base upon which the toy is supported, and which is hereindicated as a rectangular molding.

B is a shaft journaled in the base A, and, as shown, secured to bracketsC, which in turn are fastened to a board D, said board beingsubstantially balanced on the shaft B and free to turn on 'it in eitherdirection through a slight arc, and so as toincline the board either inone direction or theother. On the upper face of the board D, '1 form anumber of grooves, (indicated at D,) and which may be of any desirednumber. These grooves are formed in such a way that when the board istilted in either direction a ball lying in the groove will tend to rollfrom the upper to the lower ends of the grooves. Theyshould be ofsubstantially equal length, and the inclination'of each groove should beas a whole subcross each other, and, to prevent the liability ofcollisions at the point of crossing, I make such crossing-point occur atdifferent distances'froni the ends of the grooves, as is'indicated inFig. 1, where the grooves F and F which correspond precisely tothegrooves D, are shown as crossing each other at the point F and I willhere state that I prefer in all cases to secure above the board D aplatform F, which moves with the board D and is provided with the slotsF and F lying directly above the grooves D D of the board. A slotFextends from F across the board, turning at f to the point F on thesame side of the board as F3, while the slot F extends from the point Facross the board, turning at f to the point F on the same side of theboard as the points F and F The ends of the slots F and F are enlarged,as shown at F F F and F,.for the purpose of permitting the clutchextension which will be hereinafter described to turn thereon.

Preferably I secure in the bottoms of the slots D a series of magnets,as indicated at E E, &c. These magnets may be most convenientlypermanent magnets, though of course electromagnets might take theirplace.

H II indicate balls or rollers adapted-to lie in the grooves D and toroll from one end to the other of such grooves when the board D istilted. They are preferably made entirely spherical and magnetized, sothat each ball will be a permanent magnet having a positive and anegative pole.

G indicates the hub of a weight or handle. The hub fits loosely on theend of the shaft B. and is provided with a slot G, into which extends apin B from the shaft B. The slot G is of such dimensions and arrangementthat as the weighted handle G is thrown from one side of a vertical lineto the other it will engage the pin 13 and tip the board D through thedesired are at each movement of the handle, the weight of the handlebeing sufiicient to move the board and hold it in the desired positionuntil the balls have moved from the upperto the lower ends of the slots.

K K, &c., indicate light figures represent ing any objectssuch ashorses, yachts, bicycles, &c.and, as shown in all figures except Fig. 9,each is provided with a depending clutch-arm I, adapted to extendthrough the slots F or F and having at its lower extremity a clutch I,which is adapted to engage one of the balls II, lying in the groovebelow the slot through which the clutch-arm extends. It is desirablethat the weight of the clutch and the figure supported by it should notrest upon the ball, and therefore I preferably secure to the clutch-armsI a little platform or extension .I, which extends to each side of theslotin the platform F and by which the weight of the figure and theclutch is supported on such platform, preferably through a few bristles,as indicated at J".

I have found it advisable to construct the platform F and the clutch andclutcharms of celluloid, as being both light and smooth; but any smoothmaterial may be used for the platform, and obviously a great manymaterials could be used for the formation of the clutch.

The use of the platform F is not essential, as the figures may besupported directly upon the board D, as indicated in Fig. 9, in which Ihave shown the figure K as supported upon a conical clutch J which restsupon the board D, spanning the groove D and inclosing the top of a ballII.

Preferably I inclose the upper part of my game-board in a glasscasing,which, as shown, is made up of side pieces N and the top plate N.The side pieces rest at the bottom against a molding or bead M andagainst upright pillars O, situated at the inside of the corners andthrough which pass bolts 0. Metal clips I extend over the outside ofeach cornerand are held in place by recesses in the beads M and by theupper end of the bolt 0', as indicated in the drawings. The top plate Nshould lie quite close to the tops of the figures K, and near the upperpart of each figure I secure apermanent magnet L, the purpose of whichwill be hereinafter described.

The operation of the toy is as follows: Each figure being at thecorresponding end of its appropriate groove and slot and each ball ofcourse lying in the groove immediately below the figure, the board I) istilted in the proper direction and the balls II at once hegin to rollthrough the downwardly-inclined slots, carrying with them the figures K,which are thus given the appearance of racing with each other, themovement continuing until the balls reach the lower ends of the slots.The reason for which I enlarge the ends of the slots and provide eachfigure with a permanent magnet L at its upper end is to enable thefigures to be turned, so that when they have reached the lower ends ofthe slots and grooves they can be pointed backward so as to run forwardwhen the board is tilted in the opposite direction. The enlargement ofthe ends of the slots permits the clutcharms to turn at this point, andthe figures being very light the turning can be effected withouttouching them by means of a horseshoe-magnet, such as Q, Fig. 10, actingupon the permanent magnets L through the glass plate I The operation ofthe magnets E and the magnetized balls II is to introduce an element bywhich the movement of the balls will be accelerated or checked a greatnumber of times as they roll through the grooves and under conditionswhich are constantly varying. This depends upon the fact that like polesof two magnets repel and unlike poles attract each other. Consequentlythe balls as they move over the poles of the magnet E are sometimeschecked and sometimes accelerated, and the balls being of sphericalshape it is practically impossible that they should ever presentthemselves twice to the poles of the stationary magnets in the same way.Therefore an element of great uneertaintyis introduced into the movementof thefigures controlled by the balls and the interest of the toythereby materially increased.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A toy having in combination aboard having two or more grooves in itsface, a series of magnets situated in the grooves, magnetized balls ortheir equivalents adaptedto roll in said grooves, and light figuresadapted to engage the balls as described so as'to move over the board asthe balls roll in the grooves thereof.

2. A toy having in combination aboardhaving two or more grooves in itsface, a series of magnets situated in the grooves, magnetized balls ortheir equivalents adapted to roll in said grooves, and light figuresresting on or above the surfaces of the'board and having dependentclutches adapted to engage the balls in the grooves and so that themovement of said balls will cause the figures to move over the board.

A toy havingin combination a board having two or more grooves in itsface, balls or their equivalents adapted to roll in said grooves, aplatform secured above the board and having slots through itcorresponding with the grooves in the board, said slots being enlargedat their ends so as to permit the clutches to turn therein, lightfigures supported on the platform, magnets secured to the upper parts ofsaid figures, clutches ex- ICO tending from said figures through theslots either side of a vertical line and to engage in the platform toengage the balls, and a and move the shaft and board through a de- 10glass case inclosing the platform and figures 'termined are in eitherdirection.

supported thereon. t 5 4.111 a toy substantially as described the SAMUELHARRINGTON combination of the slotted board D with a Witnesses: v shaftB upon which it'is substantially bal- J. E. CARPENTER, ancod, and aWeight G2 adapted to move to H. J. PACK.

